Interview of Koizumi Saeko (Russia)

Here is the interview of the beautiful Koizumi Saeko from Russia !

1. For how long have you been in cosplay ?

I’ve been in cosplay for 5 years, now the 6th year has begun.

2. Cosplay is a time consuming hobby. How long does it take to craft your costumes ?

Well, it depends on the complexity of a certain image, including the costume, wig styling and props. By the way, it also depends on the time of delivery of the wig (or other stuff that you order from the internet), that can sometimes be dragged out for 2 months.

3. Any other hobby or passion besides cosplaying ?

Oh, lots of hobbies ! Drawing, dancing, cycling, visiting desolated places, photography, self-skill improvement in terms of foreign languages, general mind and body training, singing sometimes (you’d better not hear it), plastic modelling a bit, table games, cooking. I think it doesn’t enumerate all my hobbies, actually. And many of those mentioned can be further subdivided into different kinds.

4. What materials are you using for cosplay crafting, worbla ? Foam ? Can you talk about that a little bit ? I've seen we have transparent worbla now... 

It’s such a sore subject for me, cause we don’t have worbla in Russia (or at least as far as I know) and delivery is too expensive, so worbla is out of the question. We (my friend and I) use different kinds of plastic, mounting foam, papier-mache, iron sheets, wooden products.

5. Do you have any FAVORITE cosplayer ?

My most ever favorite cosplayer is Yuegene Fay, a truly adorable person. I’m stalking him in Instagram, Twitter and WorldCosplay.

6. Did you hurt yourself while making a cosplay or in a convention ?

Nothing serious as I remember.

7. Do you sell your old cosplays, or just keep it in a huge closet ?

You’ve just seen through me, I’m that person who never sells her cosplays and keeps piling them, so I’m about to be pushed out of the room by my cosplay stuff.

8. Who teached you to craft your cosplays ? Your family ? By reading books or watching youtube tutorials ?

I don’t know very much, we always do everything with my friend and cosplay partner, Zero, so I usually just assist. Sometimes I’m looking for tutorials.

9. Which conventions are you going to this year ?

Tanibata 2016 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia is for sure, about the others I don’t know yet, I’m planning to move to another city, so it’s a crucial moment in my life, I’ll be in search for a job, so before everything’s settled there might be some break in cosplay activity.

10. What is your limit budget for a cosplay ?

I just spend everything on cosplay… Sometimes I need to reduce my expenses on food, it’s not like I’m starving, but I need to abstain from some yummy things !

11. Any future super secret cosplay project in mind ?

I don’t have very long-term plans, because I may grow bored of a certain character I wanted to cosplay as earlier, and sometimes I have a kind of cosplay fever and want to cosplay as all the characters at once at the same moment, that’s why I never have any money left…

12. What are you doing in "real" life for a living ?

I have a university grant and it’s scanty, it won’t even feed me ! I receive money from my parents while I still study at the university and after graduation (this summer) I’ll be looking for a job. I would like our (with Zero) art drawings to bring some money but it’s no use for now.

13. Your best experience from a convention ? And your worst ?

All times were filled with good and bad small happenings, but in time only warm memories remain. I think the best experience was my first time coming to an event as a cosplayer, there were many other cosplayers, crowds of them, and everybody was so happy and friendly and took photos with one another and people without cosplay also asked to take a picture of you and sometimes together with you.

14. Any advice for cosplay wannabees or beginners ?

As I always say: if you want to, just do it and enjoy what you’re doing, regardless of what others would think. If they praise you – good; if they give you a kind advice on the improvement of your cosplay skills – thank them, they’re the best; if they say terrible things about your work – just ignore them, they can go if they don’t want to see it.

15. Do you have limits ? Some cosplays you will never make (too sexy, too hard, too heavy...) ?

I guess there may be some limits, but nothing comes to my mind right now. Anyway I try my best to do cosplay I want to, and to make it as close to the character image as possible.

Her facebook page (actually a cosplay group page) : https://www.facebook.com/YukioCosplay/